I might be overly attached to my artwork.

Don’t get me wrong – I love selling paintings! But every time I do, a tiny piece of me is sad to see it go to its new home. I invest a lot of myself into each of my paintings; not just time or money, but emotions and experiences.

A couple of years ago I was brought to tears when I heard that one of my paintings, which had been sold for quite some time, had been destroyed in the floods that ravaged southern Alberta in 2013. So just getting rid of artwork that is old and unsold almost seems heartless to me.

My BFA portfolio has followed me around for almost 8 years and through two moves, and has now sat in my current basement studio for over 5 years. The paintings are massive, much larger than I paint now, and difficult to sell. But I could just not bring myself to get rid of them. They are GOOD paintings. They were foundational in bringing my practice to where it is today.

But it’s time.

On Sunday I delivered the paintings to an office in downtown Edmonton for one last exhibition, or one last hurrah. If, in six months, they have not sold, then they will be dismantled and the stretchers reused. The canvases themselves will be rolled and put into storage.

The paintings themselves take up too much physical space in my studio, and too much brainspace when I’m painting. I need to let go and move on, and try new things.

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Speaking of selling paintings…

If you would like to see any of these paintings up close and in person, please let me know and I will put you in touch with the wonderful people at Pekarsky Stein, who have been so wonderful to work with, and I am so happy that they let me show my work in their offices!

“Day Two”, 48 x 72″, acrylic on canvas, 2006. $800